The Bane of the Dominarian 10 - Niall Trinity
by Jono101
Summary: This is the first installment of a series of short stories based on an Unknown plane that has lured powerful planeswalkers to face the darkest parts of their Souls. This is Niall Trinity's story.


Niall hit the ground suddenly, falling from 5 feet in the air, landing badly on his feet, minor pain radiating from his left ankle. Where was he? He looked around to see where he was; he was on the edge of a forest, plains stretching in front of him to what looks like an ocean to the north, and a large mountain range to the south; this plane, where ever he was, was very rich with mana, he could feel the mana and the power gushing through his veins; he had only felt this one, on Dominaria.

Niall could see a dark figure lying on the ground a short distance away from him, it seemed familiar too him but he couldn't quite pick out the right memory, a vague shimmer surrounded the figure as it started to form sharper features.

As Niall approaches the dark figure, more distinct lines and colours and features that fit with a living humanoid creature. The long ginger hair flowing off its shoulders, effeminate robes clothing its form; the body of a young woman that Niall was all too familiar with, his heart ache at the sight of this woman lying in front of him, colour showing through her skin, she takes a gasping breath when the final shade of darkness leaves her body.

The woman rises from the ground, dusts herself off and says "Hello Niall." Her voice smooth and gentle, as it has always been. It was Catherine Trinity, Niall's dead wife.

"But," Niall's voice caught in the back of his throat, pausing his speech; "How? You died, I saw it, I held your dying body in my arms;" Niall dropped onto his knees; his heart conflicted between the two perceptions, one of reality, the other of emotion. Catherine walked up to him and tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his bare shoulder, her touch icy cold but also blazing hot at the same time. The woman's fingers broke contact with his flesh as Niall's hand reaches up and violently grasps her wrist, forcing it upwards; "No." He says quietly, "Who are you, and why did you bring me here?"

"Clever boy, you have always been too smart for your own good." Her voice, even with the violent and malicious subtext, remained calm and soothing; her voice remained the same loving voice that Niall remembered every night before he slept, even forty years after her death he can remember her voice perfectly. Niall's gaze meets hers but he does not see the same pale blue eyes he remembers. Her eyes turn black, a deep black full of evil intent.

Niall jumped back, charging up a small fireball in his hands as he skims backwards; however, when it was fully charged and aimed at the woman, something clicked in his heart, and the ball of flame went askew and off target. How could he attack his wife? His heart ached and fought against his mind, each trying to take control of his body.

Catherine effortlessly waved the fireball aside, "Oh honey, you call that fire?" she jests, "This is what I call real fire." She moves a leg back, braces herself as the begins to gather enough red mana to cast her spell; Niall can see the mana flow into her hands as a small flame ignited in her palm; as she faces her palm towards her husband, a sudden concentration of mana flowed past her hand and fuelled the spark, creating a column of flame directed at the pyromaster. Easy enough, fire can't affect me, he thought as the pillar got closer and closer; suddenly something in Niall's mind clicked and he leapt out of the way; however he moved too late, his already injured foot caught in the fringe of the pillar, burning the garb and melting the flesh.

Niall cried out in pain as his feet made contact with the ground, his left leg falling out from under him, the pain excruciating. Catherine walked casually over to his crumpled form and stood over him, "Don't you think it would be better without those pesky thoughts? Join me, and I can grant you what you want most." She whispers seductively into his ear.

"Never!" The crippled Pyromaster screams, he summons a giant wall of flame between him and his foe, buying him enough time to limp away into the forest; it isn't true, she can't give him what he wants most, what he want most died 40 years ago.

Catherine walked casually through the wall of torrential fire, looking to her husband as he disappeared into the forest. "Don't worry, my darling, you cannot hide from me forever, sooner or later I will find you, and you will be mine."

.

Niall limped through the wooded terrain, finding the occasional track but wanting to stay more to the shadows, knowing his agility was sorely lacking with his injury. His heart raced with both fear and heartache, the sight of his loving wife attacking him was more than he could bear; his heart broken and his body rent, Niall considered giving into her and surrendering his will to an easier path.

No, he can't do that; shaking the thought from his mind as he carried on towards the mountain range he saw earlier; if he can somehow get better access to red mana, he might be able to survive. Slowly he limped to the mountains, he knew that there was a long journey ahead of him, make longer when Catherine occasionally flew overhead, making him duck for cover and make sure it was safe to continue. Oh how he wished that he knew even the most basic healing magic, it would make this fight easier by far; Niall knew that his prime strength was raw magical power and his agility, which is now lacking severely with his ankle in this state.

Hours passed as Niall slowly journeyed to the closest mountain peak, there was the occasional sighting of his wife, but she very quickly darted over him, her jests showing her frustration for his departure and stealth. He knew he had to move quickly.

A shrill cry alerted Niall to someone's presence; he remained on guard but melded with the shadows as he saw a clearing with a figure lying on his back. That figure was screaming in terror, Niall stood and tried to move by their side and provide assistance, however as Niall entered the clearing, something jumped on top of the grounded figure, its dark and horrid black form pinning the man to the ground as he continued to cry out in terror.

The black creature seemed to feed upon the planeswalker, devouring his essence; but as Niall approached he saw that the shadow was in fact being absorbed into the other planeswalker's body, the screams subsiding until the man was silent. Suddenly the man awoke, not in terror or a gasp for air, but in an unnatural and evil glee upon his face, a crude smile darted across his face as he leapt to his feet and charged towards Niall, met with a large wall of flames that incinerated him instantly.

Niall was driven to his knees by the show of power he was forced to express, the scares red mana was making him weaker as time progressed; he wouldn't stand much of a chance against Catherine, or whatever she was, Niall was beginning to think that something sinister was afoot, and he was afraid that what he saw transpire might happen to him, he was afraid that he might lose himself to his wife, and to the insanity that clung to the back of his mind that sought to corrupt his very soul.

.

Niall's final pints of strength were channelled into his mountainous climb. Strangely Catherine didn't show herself during his climb, but Niall knew exactly why; she was waiting at the mountain top, waiting for him to find her, and surrender to her. Over the course of this conflict Niall had time to think, about what has happened, what he has done over the course of the past few hours and his entire life; the parasitic insanity threatened to take over constantly, eating away at his resolve slowly and painfully, utilizing memories and emotions as its primary weapon. This insanity has gotten stronger since he arrived here; could this memory be related to Catherine? Or could Catherine simply be a figment of his imagination?

He cast those thoughts aside, trying not to give his insanity more power than it already had. The combined torture of physical pain and emotional torment hacked away at the pyromaster's resolve, but he carried on none the less, resolute in his quest for survival. As Niall approached the mountain peak, he felt mana surge through his body, filling his very soul with the red mana that was previously denied to him so painfully; Niall sighed deeply, drawing in as much of the invigorating mana as he could with each breath. It was then he realized: he was finally ready to meet Catherine in Battle.

.

Niall strutted onto the mountain peak, his garb billowing heroically beside him as the wind surged past him; strengthening his resolve to take down his wife and end this misery, one and for all.

'Face me, Catherine!' He called, his voice carried even over the shrill cry of the wind; echoing down the mountain, into the forests and down over the country side. He sensed a presence and turned to see his wife sitting on a nearby rock; comfortably and lovingly, but resilient and powerful; just as Niall remembered her. 'Shall we end it now?' he called.

'That depends, my darling.' Her voice was as sweet as caramel and quiet as a gentle breeze, almost unnaturally so, 'Are you ready to give up? Just come with me and everything will be fine. Lose yourself to your passions and you will be free.' She was every bit as beautiful as Niall remembered her; her ginger hair glowing in the dim light, her smile radiant and her eyes mesmerizing. Niall started to lose himself in her gaze as he fall into the deep expanse that was her eyes.

Niall shook the thought aside once more and threw a small bolt of fire towards Catherine, causing no damage but instead distracting her as he prepared a much larger spell, drawing as much mana as he could from the surrounding mountain, drawing what he could into one final fireball. Before Niall finished casting his spell, something caught his gaze in the corner of his eye; suddenly Catherine was in front of him, mere paces from where he stood, moving closer.

They stood together, facing each other, not a sound was said between them. Niall realized what Catherine was trying to do, distract him in order to draw the mana from his body, making him defenceless. 'If she wants it, she can have it' He thought suddenly, recklessly releasing a large amount of mana in Catherine's direction; this influx of mana rapidly built between the two mages, building exponentially before exploding in pure energy. Both Niall and Catherine were shot back by this explosion, Catherine hit a cliff face with enough force to both wind her and break the rock under her, whereas Niall flung off the mountain peak, he hung onto the edge of the plateau, desperately trying to get a foothold and hoist himself back to his feet.

'Look what we have here?' Catherine stood over Niall's helpless body, kneeling to get a better view of his face, 'A prince caught somewhere where he shouldn't be?' Her fingers trailed teasingly over Niall's hand, the searing hot but icy cold paradox causing his muscles to spasm, threatening his fall. 'You didn't even deserve your throne, you know.'

Niall flinched; after all he's been through, after everything he's done for his people, maybe he wasn't good enough for them.

'Everyone you've every loved, everyone that you've known and ruled, your entire plane and those around it have fallen into grief because you, Niall Trinity, were afraid.'

The beaten Pyromaster cast his head down in shame, knowing all Catherine says is true in his heart, he had let everyone down, and even though the people of Tydaria had forgiven him, he knew that he could not forgive himself.

'Maybe your father was wrong, maybe you aren't the true Herald of the Phoenix.' She taunted.

Niall's head shot up suddenly, his muscles jumped into action as Niall rode a wave of flames into the air. Through a large flash of light that caused Catherine to avert her gaze, Niall had donned garb of pure flames, flames of the Aithne herself, the royal symbol of Tydaria. Behind Niall was a large bird made out of bright white flames, her feathers shone whiter than marble and brighter than the sun, her wings spread wide to show her magnificence.

'You know what? Maybe I am the Phoenix Herald after all.' Niall said confidently, sending the large phoenix behind him to attack his wife; upon contact with the phoenix, Catherine slowly started to burn as the pure flames cleansed her body, screams of terror filled the sky as she slowly burned into a pile of ash spread into the sky by the wind.

Niall had done it, he had won. The burning in the back of his mind subsided, he was at peace finally, and he knew what he had to do next; in order to redeem both himself and his family. He had to return home, to Tydaria.


End file.
